Chapter -07.
Chapter 7.
The following morning.
After a good night's sleep, Lucian got up early. Since effie left his house yesterday, he had been paying close attention to Effie's offer, but since then he had also been thinking whether he would be able to overcome the burden of his own insignificant talents, even with Effie's help.
"Perhaps I shouldn't be thinking about such serious things so early in the morning." Lucian had a headache, so he put the thought aside for the time being and went to the small water tank outside the house. He would definitely take a bath there.
After a shower to cool down, Lucian put on his soldier's cloak, put his sword back on his belt, and left the house.
"So early?" he heard a voice from behind him as he was about to close the door.
Turning around as he closed the door, Lucian saw a woman with an oval face and dark eyes, whose beauty was further accentuated by her long eyebrows. She faced him with a smile, spreading her large juicy lips. She was wearing a light gray dress and had long, flowing black hair.
"Oh, Betty, it's you. Can I help you with something?" Lucian notices the woman and greets her with a smile.
His neighbor, Betty, lives with her parents, who are elderly farmers.
"Oh, yes, are you free this evening? I need your help with something," Betty asks, clasping her hands and fiddling with her fingers. She's been wondering about it ever since she noticed a woman leaving Lucian's house yesterday evening, and this morning, seeing Lucian return to work, she couldn't help but ask.
Betty had fallen in love with Lucien long ago because he was always ready to lend a hand when she needed it. It's clear now that this was the reason Betty was terrified of any lady slinking out of his house.
Betty could only get over this worry by taking Lucien to the market in the evening under the guise of work and then finding the strength to pop the main question on him.
However, Lucien's next statement, "I'm sorry, Betty, but I'm going to be very busy for the next three or four days," thwarted her plan. "Can you wait if it's not urgent? Then, I'll do everything you require."
Lucien started to wonder why this predecessor of his had so many female pals as time went on in his new body. As a transferee, he has all the conveniences of the contemporary world, but he has no female companion. It's terribly regrettable.
"Oh, I see. When you're free, we'll go." Betty felt a little let down. She didn't, however, display any adverse reactions because she was well aware that, despite the criticism he received from his infantry peers, Lucien was making every effort to better himself rather than resigning from his position as a soldier.
Lucien grinned and replied, "Okay, I'll be off then," before heading out. After a while of standing by herself thinking, Betty heard her elderly mother calling, so she decided to walk back home.
---
After a while of walking, Lucien arrived at the training grounds, completely forgetting about what Betty had said and entirely focused on improving himself.
Passing past the massive wooden gate, Lucian noted that there were just a few individuals on the training site. They were entirely ignoring him while focussing on their exercise. Lucian appreciated it because he didn't want to be disturbed while training.
After deciding on a secluded location that was comfortable for him, Lucian dragged the wooden training doll with exertion, groaned, and began digging into his predecessor's memories once more.
"What is this? Is that all he knows?" Lucian mumbled to himself. He reasoned that because he was a soldier for House Crowfield, his predecessor may have understood certain sword tactics, even if they were just third-rate.
But as he went into his predecessor's recollections, he realised why everyone dubbed him "waste."
Despite having practiced downward slash for a few years, this prdecessor of his had just grasped the fundamentals and was unable to master it; if this is not waste then what is?
"Hmm... I guess I'll have to start all over again. But maybe this is a good chance to lay the foundation." Lucian muttered, thinking about what to do next.
After a moment of thought, his breathing returned to normal, and Lucian unsheathed his sword, stared at the wooden doll for a moment, then plunged it straight into its neck.
ktak*
There was a small stabbing sound, but Lucian was trying to look at something else, and his eyes were glued to the wooden doll's head, where the tip of the sword had only punctured a small hole. His hand shook a little as he thrust the sword out quickly.
"It's not strong enough." One look at the damage he'd done to the wooden figurine told Lucian just what level he was on, and that realization didn't make him feel any better.
With the build he had right now, lucian had thought that he would only need to focus on the sword, and his physique would continue to improve subsequently, but now looking at the power his muscles had provided behind that stab he had performed right now, he was forced to rethink about everything.
"Hmm... let's practice some normal thrusting and slashing techniques to see how much power this muscles can exert continuously"
though Lucien was disappointed in his muscles, but at the same time, for not even a second he believed they were just for show. Perhaps what he was missing at the moment is just a lack of understanding of the true way to harness the true power his muscles can exert every time he swing the sword.
And the only thing he knew was to keep practicing until understanding comes to him naturally.
With resolve in his heart, Lucian gripped the sword a little looser this time, for when he thrust the sword into the dummy's hand while gripping the hilt a little tighter, he felt the sword slip out of his hand. He took an inward stance again, looked at the dummy, and thrust the sword forward, this time trying to put more force into it.
Ktak*
He heard the same piercing voice, and saw the same amount of damage on the wooden dummy's chest where Lucian thrust the sword. But this time, there was one change he felt while improvising: the techinque itself. This time, instead of feeling like he was forcing himself of utlising some foreign object, the sword in his hand felt very natural.
This feeling clicked him very well, and with that feeling in mind, he continued practicing, getting better by the minute; untill a group of soldiers came up to him and mocked him, saying, "Oh, it looks like someone's in a hurry to prove himself."
"Apparently, with the intensity of this new training, it seems like plans to force Adam to give up his wife."
"Really? I thought it was just a baseless rumor."
"What nonsense, there are plenty of people who claim that Effie is crazy about loser like this guy."
Lucian had been concentrating on his training and ignoring the thugs, but he finally stopped swinging his sword when he realized they wouldn't shut up until he stood up to them.
"Do you guys need something? Or are you just trying to practice your barking skills? If so, I suggest you try barking in other people's faces, cause i'm not a dog person."